Poll: LG Roberts' lead over Healey slim

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts holds a single-digit lead over challenger Robert Healey Jr., the independent candidate who says he'll work to abolish her office if he wins it, our exclusive WPRI 12 poll shows.

The survey of 500 likely voters finds 42 percent supporting Roberts, a Democrat, while 35 percent back Healey. A second independent, Robert Venturini, has 5 percent, and 16 percent are still undecided with less than five days before voters go to the polls.

Healey ran and lost in 2002 and 2006 on the same platform of eliminating the lieutenant governor's office. But this time he has the tacit support of the Republican Party, whose own candidate withdrew from the race last month to help Healey.

"Everyone knew he would do better with no Republican, but people are surprised by just how well he's doing," Eyewitness News political analyst Joe Fleming said. "Anything could happen in that race."

• Related: Complete poll results

The telephone poll was conducted last Thursday through Monday by Fleming & Associates of Cumberland, R.I. The survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus approximately 4.38 percentage points.

WPRI 12 will release new poll results for the governor's race at 6 p.m. Thursday and for the 1st Congressional District contest between David Cicilline and John Loughlin at 6 p.m. Friday.

Split between men and women

Roberts, a former state senator in her first term as lieutenant governor, is running strongest among Democrats, 61 percent of whom support her; women, at 48 percent; and voters ages 18 to 39, also at 48 percent.

Healey, a long-haired millionaire lawyer and entrepreneur, is doing best with men, 48 percent of whom support him; Republicans, at 50 percent; and independents, at 40 percent. Voters ages 40 to 59 are split, with 39 percent behind each contender.

• Nesi's Notes: Will Healey be our next - and last - LG?

Fleming said Healey would likely be doing even better were it not for the candidacy of Venturini, who is best-known as the host of long-running public access TV shows. "That's helping Roberts," he said.

Fleming also said an electorate unhappy about high unemployment and other issues may use the lieutenant governor's contest to cast a protest vote.

"People have talked about voters in Rhode Island being angry, and our polling has shown that," he said. "This could be a spot where you might see some of that anger get taken out."

One-fourth still undecided on AG

State Rep. Peter Kilmartin has a 14-point lead over Republican Erik Wallin in the race to succeed Attorney General Patrick Lynch, Kilmartin's fellow Democrat. That's partly because of a splintered field, with four different candidates winning at least 9 percent of voters in our WPRI 12 survey.

The poll finds Kilmartin at 33 percent, followed by Wallin at 19 percent; the Moderate Party's Christopher Little at 12 percent; independent Keven McKenna at 9 percent; and independent Rob Rainville at 2 percent.

The poll shows Kilmartin is on top among every subgroup of voters except Republicans, 54 percent of whom back Wallin, and independents, 32 percent of whom are undecided.

"Kilmartin is in a decent position here – he's doing well with traditional Democrats," Fleming said, adding that Kilmartin benefited from fighting a three-way Democratic primary that raised his profile and cemented his image.

But 24 percent of voters are still undecided on who to support for attorney general. "People aren't zeroing in," Fleming said. "They're looking at the governor's race."

tnesi@wpri.com